March 1, 2006—The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced February 16 that it will develop a cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the state’s investor-owned utilities and the companies from which those utilities buy their power.
CPUC plans to set the cap based on the customer load served by each utility, treating power equally whether it is imported into the state or generated in California. The cap will encompass all of the GHG emissions produced in the course of generating the electricity, eventually including six major GHGs by setting the cap in terms of the equivalent tons of carbon dioxide emitted.
In addition, CPUC will continue to work with the Governor’s Climate Action Team to ensure that municipal utilities are also subject to a GHG emissions reduction regime.
In setting the cap and developing compliance mechanisms, CPUC plans to minimize costs to ratepayers, while providing appropriate incentives to utility managers and shareholders. Utilities will have some flexibility in how they achieve the GHG cap, says CPUC.
For more information, visit the CPUC Web site.
